River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-07-14

so far from its base without disaster
And as To the opening of the railroad
Sheridan well knew. no man was bet
ter entitled TO know, from the eXperienc
of the last summer, and the fall cam
paign So far, that MOsby would like N
better fun than the cutting of the rail
road from Alexandria to Manassas. an
the capturing of all the trains that cOul
toe sent over IL.
Secretary Stanton and General Hal
leck, comfortably Ofiiced at Washing
ton. thought the railroad could be KEEP
open.
1t was ne Their the first nor the las
time that Washington dictatiOn put tn
Union cause in peril.
General Sheridan was so positive il
his opinions on the subject that Secre
tary Stanton at last ordered him 4
come to Washington for a persona
consultation.
| Sheridan Obeyed. very reluctantly
He seems to have felt that he had NJ
business away from the army at such ;
time. To use a common phrase. some
thing was lin the air. the activity anC
the Saucy demonstrations in his front
by the enemy he had lately routed as
Sured him that this enemy had been
heavily re-enfOrced. and was meditating
an attack In all his extended military
history this man probably never felt so
uneasy as during the four days that he
was away from his army.
/ But the wishes. not to say the orders.
Of the Secretary of War must needs be
respected; and ON the 18th of October,
with a strong cavalry escort. Sheridan
started for Washington BY way of
Front ROYAL and Manassas Gap.
At the former place he was
! Overtaken by courier from
General Wright who was left
in command of the army. with the
following startling message. which our
/ Signal Corps men had read from the
| flags ON the Confederate station on the
summit of Three Top mountain, which
overlooked all our camps:
To Lieutenant General Early:
BE ready TO move as soon a nv
forces join YOU, and we will crush
| Sheridan.
'.LoSGsTRET. Lieutenant General. "
If this dispatch was genuine. it was
worth needing; IL it was ruSe. il still
showed that the enemy meditated mis-
chief. What its real character was has
not been determined To this day.
That It added to Sheridans uneasiness
Is very certain. He thought of return
ing to camp. and postponing his visit
70 Washington TO a safer time But he
finally sent word to General Wright to
be watchful and ready. IF the enemy
should make an advance, the dispactch
said. Il know you will defeat him. |
will bring up all | can, and will be up
ON Thursday, if not sooner"
This dispatch was sent back on
Saturday. the 18th. On Tuesday. the
18th. Sheridan slept at Winchester.
fifteen miles in rear Of his army. with
out suspicion Of the storm that was
about to burst upon it.
But ON the 18th he went on with his
cavalry escort to RectOrtown. where he
could take the railroad to Washington.
He thus disappeared from the scene of
operations in the Valley. until about
noon Of the 10Th. when he burst like a
meteor upon his defeated army north
Of MiddIetown and west of the pike.
1t IS no part Of my purpose to give
detailed description of the battle of
Cedar Greek. lean only speak generally
of it. There is no battle in all history
like it, Ii was fought over eight square
miles of territory. II was commenced by
> surprise. a mastery and brilliant on
tho mart Of tho ..ua,,,- ~ - ,x-as ,,.-5t;,-
IL diSgraccful on our part An army
Is never surprised without somebody
being at fault and if Cedar Creek had
turned out a defeIt To the Union cause
and our army had gone back to the
Potomac. there would have been courts
martial. and some names that are now
covered with honor among the two
starred would have been put i'm deep
disgrace. This is no idle assertion; the
writer merely states what he kHOlCS
The final result of the DAY was So
glorious to our arms that Sheridan was
unwilling to have the glory obscurcd
hy any charges or punishments He
therefore refused To hear any com
plants which would have properly
consigned some officers to deep dis
grace; and he even released
from arrest all officers who
had been under charges before
the battle In this way the people have
been-uniustly. as | think-deprived
Of the knowledge Of who was RESPONSE
BILE for our surprise and disastrous
repulse in the morning at Cedar Greek
II i Just, in this connection. to give
the COnfcderttes credit for the mastery
movement Of that morning. which So
nearly resulted in the overwhelming of
our army. Whoever conceived it.
whether General Early or another. was
a master of strategy An army was
silently marched in he night across "A
river, along the side of a mountain by
difficult paths. across the river again,
and around in rear of our flank. passing
az some points so near the picketS As To
be- challenged. Nothing like it for risk
and daring has been known since
Wolfe dropped down the st Lawrence
and scaled the heights of Abraham ut
Quebec.
The attack came in the log of early
morning The Eighth Corps was rolled
mp. run over. captured. dispersed. The
Nineteenth fought desperate battle
for an hour. leaving two thousand on
the field in killed. wounded and
prisoners. a~a then slowly retreated.
ilankcd and driven hack The Sixth
Corps took mp the brunt of the fight.
and fought splendidly while it could;
and then it toe. was hanked by that
irresistible torrent on the left and COM
PEELED To retire.
We all went back slowly. We
punished the enemy well; we We're not
pressed when. a little before noon, we
acre forming line about four miles in
rear of our camps.
From what | aw and heard about
me. I am certain hat the remains of
this army there in line. comprising
something more than One-half of it,
force in the morning, was prepared to
| fight a good defensive battle. As To
making an attack. | don't believe that
anybody, General or private. thought
/ If such a thing. We had suffered
l heavily in the morning We were seri-
ously weakened by Ie great numbers
/ that had gone To the rear. We thought
we could hold this line; but nobody
/ dreamed of an advance until Sheridan
came up
/ He had finished his business at Wash